UNTIL THE GOVERNOR HEARS CHANGES TO THE STAND-YOUR-GROUND LAW AND RACIAL PROFILING AND WHAT THEY CALL A WAR ON YOUTH. AND SUPPORT SEEMS TO BE GROWING FOR A BOYCOTT OF FLORIDA. AN ONLINE PETITION AGAINST FLORIDA TOURISM PICKED UP ANOTHER 1,000 SIGNATURES. SO FAR IT HAS 10,300 SIGNATURES. JIM PIGGOTT IS JOINING US NOW WITH MORE. WHAT ARE YOU HEARING, JIM? A LOT OF WHAT I'M HEARING IS ONLINE. THAT'S WHERE THE TALK IS HAPPENING. SO I WENT AROUND HERE IN JACKSONVILLE, FINDING OUT WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING. LOCAL HOTEL OPERATORS SAY THE IMPACT HASN'T BEEN FELT YET. AT THE OMNI TODAY, A MEETING OF THE NORTHEAST FLORIDA HOTEL/MOTEL ASSOCIATION WAS HELD. THE MEMBERS TOLD US THEY HAVE NOT EVEN HEARD OF THE BOYCOTT, SO THEY CAN'T COMMENT BUT THEY'RE HEARING ABOUT IT IN TALLAHASSEE. THE STATE SENATOR JOHN THRASHER SAYS THIS COULD BE VERY DAMAGING. I HOPE THAT'S NOT THE STRATEGY THAT FOLKS THAT WANT TO TURN THE TRAYVON MARTIN, STAND YOUR GROUND, WHATEVER CASE AROUND. THERE'S A PROCESS FOR THAT. TO GO OUT AND REALLY ATTACK INNOCENT PEOPLE IN AN ECONOMIC BOYCOTT IS, FRANKLY, WRONG. WE OUGHT NOT TO BE DOING THAT. LOGOS ABOUT NO DISNEY, NO ORANGE JUICE IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER TO STATE LAWMAKERS. THERE WAS A MENTION OF AN ORANGE JUICE BOYCOTT MENTIONED AT THE NAACP. OUR ECONOMY IS FRAGILE. TO PUT SOMETHING LIKE THIS ON PEOPLE RIGHT NOW IS A BAD STRATEGY, I THINK, FOR GETTING THIS KIND OF DISCUSSION STARTED. PEOPLE HERE SAY THE BOYCOTT IS A PERSONAL CHOICE. TO NOT PARTICIPATE OR COME TO THE STATE, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WHOLE STATE, IT'S THE LAW ITSELF I FEEL NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. SO I CHECKED AGAIN WITH VISIT JACKSONVILLE AND VISIT FLORIDA TO SEE WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE BOYCOTT. WHAT KIND OF EFFECT IT'S HAVING ON THE CITY AND THE STATE. OFFICIALS SAY THEY CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT AND REFERRED US TO THE STATE. SO FAR, THE STATE HAS NOT CALLED US BACK. AFTER TWO DAYS OF ASKING ABOUT THE IMPACT. THEY MAY NOT BE TALKING BUT PEOPLE ON THE VISIT FLORIDA FACEBOOK PAGE ARE. THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE MANY COMMENTS POSTED. WENDY SAYS STAND-YOUR-GROUND LAWS WILL FOREVER KEEP ME OUT OF FLORIDA. GREG MENTIONED I WOULDN'T FEEL SAFE IN FLORIDA. STAND-YOUR-GROUND LAW IS IMMORAL. AND LISA ADDED NO MORE VISITING MY RELATIVES IN FLORIDA. IT'S JUST NOT SAFE. AND ABOUT A HALF-HOUR AGO, I TALKED WITH CONGRESSWOMAN CORRINE BROWN ABOUT THE BOYCOTT. HERE'S WHAT SHE TOLD ME WHEN I ASKED HER IF THIS IS SOMETHING SHE WOULD EVEN TRY TO SUPPORT. I REALIZE THAT WE HAVE A PROBLEM AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND PEOPLE FEEL WE'RE TRYING TO WORK ON SOLVING THE PROBLEM. SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT HAVE TO GO TO THAT DRASTIC STEP. I DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM BOYCOTT MY STATE BUT I DO FEEL LIKE SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAPPEN. AND WHAT SHE MEANS BY SOMETHING HAPPENING IS MORE HEARINGS AROUND THE STATE TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN ON THE STAND YOUR GROUND BILL. THAT WAS HER MAIN CONCERN, THAT SHE WANTS TO SEE HAPPEN. WE'RE LIVE ON THE SOUTH BANK, JIM PIGGOTT. TOMORROW STATE ATTORNEY AUDREY GIBSON, AND OTHER LOCAL AND STATE LEADERS ARE HOLDING A NEWS CONFERENCE HERE TO ADDRESS CONCERNS ABOUT THE STAND-YOUR-GROUND LAW. THEY'RE CALLING ON THE LEGISLATURE TO MAKE, QUOTE, "COMMON SENSE CHANGES TO THE LAW."

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

A call to boycott Florida in the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict and "stand your ground" law outcry is getting louder.

In just one day, an online petition against Florida tourism has gained 1,000 more signatures, reaching a total of about 10,300 signatures.

Quick Clicks

Local hotel operators say the impact has not yet been felt. At a meeting of the North Florida Hotel and Lodging Association on Thursday at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel, members said they had not even heard of the boycott, so they couldn't comment.

State leaders are hearing about it in Tallahassee. State Sen. John Thrasher says it could be very damaging.

"I hope that is not the strategy that folks that want to turn the Trayvon Martin stand your ground whatever case around," Thrasher said. "There is a process for that. To go out and attack innocent people in an economic boycott is frankly wrong. And we ought not be doing that."

The logos about no disney and no orange juice are no laughing matter to state leaders. There is a big concern in central Florida about an orange juice boycott mentioned by the NAACP, which was meeting in Orlando.

"Our economy in the state of Florida is pretty fragile," Thrasher said. "We are coming back, but it's still pretty fragile. And to put something like this on people right now is a pretty bad strategy, I think, for getting this kind of discussion started.

Visitors to the Sunshine State continue to say the boycott is a personal choice.

"To not participate or come to the state, it has nothing necessarily to do with the whole state," said Michelle Alexander, of Decatur, Ga. "It's the law itself that needs to be addressed."

Visit Jacksonville again on Thursday referred Channel 4 to the state for comment, and for the second day in a row, the state has yet to respond.

"I realize we have a problem," Rep. Corrine Brown said in a phone interview. "I would like to see some dialogue and people know that we are working to solve the problem so they would not have to go to that drastic step. I don't want to see them boycott my state, but I feel like something needs to happen."

Copyright 2013 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

The views expressed below are not those of News4Jax or its affiliated companies. By clicking on "Post," you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Service and your comment is in compliance with such terms. Readers, please help keep this discussion respectful and on topic by flagging comments that are offensive or inappropriate (hover over the commenter's name and you'll see the flag option appear on right side of that line). And remember, respect goes both ways: Tolerance of others' opinions is important in a free discourse. If you're easily offended by strong opinions, you might skip reading comments entirely.